Newsletter Archive

November Newsletter 2006


Pastor Don Cameron Says...
It’s been another very busy month. Two more Fatherless boys joined the Boys Brigade program on Tuesday night.

Some boys I mentor experienced life changing situations and I continued building relationships with local Secondary Schools on a number of fronts.

One College that recently had the ‘Values For Life’ team run a Drug Education seminar at their school emailed me this morning where the teacher in charge wrote;

“We are certainly interested in a long term association with you and your networks in terms of our Pastoral Care Programme at the College.“

With the onset of the warmer weather more teenagers are coming into Cornerstone on Saturday nights. Last Saturday I met young teenagers from Pakenham and NarreWarren who travelled into Dandenong looking for something to do and ended up at Cornerstone for a meal and a conversation.

There seems to be an interest in Dandenong Youth at the moment with more finances and people resources being made available to Cornerstone for youth work in 2007 which is very pleasing, but which also requires more behind the scenes organization and administration work.

I’m always interested in meeting more people who have spare time and would like to be trained up to work with young people in Dandenong. We continue to praise God for His work in our city and pray for His direction and guidance. It’s going to be an exciting 2007!

Pastor Don Cameron – 0415 888 528 DonInDandenong@netscape.net

Cornerstone Name Change
Over the years Cornerstone has had the business name of Local Churches Urban Mission Inc. This has been confusing and early this year it was decided to change the name to Cornerstone Contact Centre. This has been approved by the government and all the appropriate changes have been made to our letterheads, account etc.

Melbourne Cup Day Lunch At Cornerstone

Cornerstone’s own fashion in the field competition. Fun and frivolity at Cornerstone lunch.	Chicken and Salad lunch at Cornerstone Cup Day function.

Politics And Cornerstone
Candidate Meetings
There have been a number of these across the Casey and Greater Dandenong Community organized by local Pastors’ Fellowships under the banner of Australian Christian Lobby. These were interesting meetings and gave the candidates the opportunity of expressing their values and policies on a variety of issues.

Meeting With Government
Organised by Narre North MP Luke Donnellan , Trish Keilty of Avocare and Alison and Trish from Cornerstone met with departmental personnel to discuss community development work involving Cornerstone and Avocare.

Senator Steve Fielding
While in the district Senator Fielding of Family First and entourage dropped into Cornerstone and shared a meal with the people.

A number of Cornerstone folk were able to express their particular concerns to him.

About Cornerstone
Cornerstone Contact Centre is a faith mission run in the heart of downtown Dandenong. It combines welfare assistance with a Drop In facility to meet the needs of the many disadvantaged people in the area.

Cornerstone is transdenominational being administered by Christians from a variety of church backgrounds. Cornerstone meets in the old Church of Christ building on the corner of Mason and Walker Sts Dandenong.

It is next to the tax office and surrounded by a variety of government and welfare agencies. The building is owned by the Rado family who allow Cornerstone to use the property free of charge.

Cornerstone is recognised as a safe haven for people who live on the fringes of society. It provides a variety of programs that meet the needs of this very multicultural community. Cornerstone provides meals and crisis assistance in the municipalities of Casey and Greater Dandenong for people in the district who have multiple needs.

Editorial By Pastor Max Walker
As the State election comes closer we are all inundated with promises from the various political parties. However, this time round we seem to have a lot more from the religious affiliated parties who are strongly putting forward policies based on their view and understanding of scripture.

However, it is confusing not only for the Christian but the average Joe in the streets as they interpret the scriptures according to their denominational flavour.

At best their view is a fragmented one not a unified approach to a variety of issues. Moral issues and the maintenance of Christian values are being vigorously debated as we come to terms with the changing nature of Australian societal structure and the desire of the church to support the “status quo” is evident in the debate.

The debate so far has been on moral, ethical and Christian values and it is right that candidates for public office state their position on these issues.

However, there appears to be little discussion on the role of the Christian and the church in seeking justice for those who are denied justice in our society.

These include the poor, the mentally ill, the refugees, our indigenous people, the unemployed and the exploited in the workforce. On these issues the Christian and the Church are often embarrassingly silent.

Bonhoeffer, the Christian martyr hanged by the Nazis spoke for the “confessing church” against the political regime of his time and was seen as a radical by the rest of the church that gave tacit support of the Nazi regime. In his writings he is quite explicit about the church’s obligation to fight injustice.

1. the first was to question the state and where necessary indicate the state’s responsibility to provide justice for all people.

2. the second was to support the victims of injustice no matter what their religion, race and gender.

3. thirdly he indicates that when this is done by the Christian and the Church do not be surprised if, to stop the wheels of injustice, you are subjected to the same forces of injustice brought against yourself.

If we want to be effective Christians in 2006 we will emulate the words of our Lord Jesus.

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.“